DVD Videos

Brittany and Normandy have an enchantment all their own. The landscape, tinged by the magic of history, offers an unforgettable panorama of the two regions. The music by Debussy used here includes the evocative Prélude à l’aprèsmidi d’un faune, later transformed into a ballet by Nijinsky, the three Nocturnes, orchestral pieces that again suggest the beauty and variety of the landscapes, and finally La mer, in all its changes from dawn to dusk.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3

Sound format: Dolby Digital / DTS Surround

Region code: 0 (worldwide)

Running time: 65 mins

No. of DVDs: 1

Scenes of Provence, with its ancient Roman remains and ancestral traditions, mingle with the coast of the Côte d’Azur and the great nature reserve of Camargue, Musically, Chopin and Puccini may seem outsiders in a gathering of French musicians. The former, however, was the son of an émigré French father and spent the greater part of his life in Paris, while Puccini finds a place here with his transformation of Manon Lescaut into an immensely moving opera. Other composers reflect a French tradition ranging from Berlioz to Ravel.

The Tuscan region stretches from the Apennines to the Tyrrhenian Sea and includes, among its nine provinces, Pisa, Siena and Lucca. The music chosen for this tour of Tuscany is largely Italian, ranging from the sixteenth-century Milanese lutenist Francesco Canova da Milano to the Venetian Vivaldi, the Genoese-born violinist Paganini and the opera composers Donizetti, Verdi, Catalani and Puccini. Place is also found for appropriate music by the Italian-trained Gluck and from Mozart’s Italian opera Don Giovanni.

Sicily has a remarkably varied history: only in the mid-nineteenth century was the island drawn into the unified country of Italy. The historical changes that Sicily has undergone are reflected in its culture. The music chosen for this tour of Sicily is largely Italian, ranging from Salieri to Verdi and Leoncavallo. Other composers included are Mozart, Mendelssohn and Bach, the last represented by a characteristic Sicilian dance, and the Italian violinist and composer Paganini.

François I’s decision to move his court to the Valley of the Loire coincided with a period of French architecture in which the Italian Renaissance style was notably influential, often combined with the existing Gothic, resulting in the preponderance of imposing Chateaux in the region. The music accompanying this tour of the Loire is all by Fryderyk Chopin. Born in Poland of a Polish mother and émigré French father, Chopin settled in Paris and generally spent the summer months in the Black Valley. The music chosen here is taken from his many Waltzes, a popular dance that he elevated from the ball-room to the concert salon.

Klezmer is the celebration music of Eastern European Jews around the world. Reflecting the interplay of dance tunes, folk songs and liturgical music that flourished in Eastern Europe in the diverse Yiddish-speaking culture until 1939.

Here, the incomparable Itzhak Perlman takes a break from the concert hall to explore the vitality of klezmer music in this charmingly humorous guide where he journeys from New York’s lower East Side to the Jewish Festival in Krakow, Poland performing with a wide cross section of popular klezmer groups.

‘It was in Britain, in the spring of 2003, at the Yehudi Menuhin School, that I first had the opportunity to hear Valeriy Sokolov play. I had only just learned of his existence when he offered to play me the Ysaÿe Sonata. As he did so, not the slightest tension marred the impression he gave of total ease with his instrument, absolute control of technique, a musical maturity which made the fact that he was only sixteen completely irrelevant, and above all an utter abandonment to the flow of the music... I was seized by a compulsion to try and capture Valeriy Sokolov in all the freshness of his youth as soon as possible. So I made this film...’ Bruno Monsaingeon

Format: NTSC

Language: English

Region: All Regions

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 1

DVD Release Date: September 12, 2006

Run Time: 93 minutes